Declan Burke: Lost Classic # 74: Bogmail, Patrick McGinley

“Declan Burke is his own genre. The Lammisters dazzles, beguiles and transcends. Virtuoso from start to finish.” – Eoin McNamee “This bourbon-smooth riot of jazz-age excess, high satire and Wodehouse flamboyance is a pitch-perfect bullseye of comic brilliance.” – Irish Independent Books of the Year 2019 “This rapid-fire novel deserves a place on any bookshelf that grants asylum to PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brien or Kyril Bonfiglioli.” – Eoin Colfer, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2019 “The funniest book of the year.” – Sunday Independent “Declan Burke is one funny bastard. The Lammisters ... conducts a forensic analysis on the anatomy of a story.” – Liz Nugent “Burke’s exuberant prose takes centre stage … He plays with language like a jazz soloist stretching the boundaries of musical theory.” – Totally Dublin “A mega-meta smorgasbord of inventive language ... linguistic verve not just on every page but every line.” – Irish Times “Above all, The Lammisters gives the impression of a writer enjoying himself. And so, dear reader, should you.” – Sunday Times “A triumph of absurdity, which burlesques the literary canon from Shakespeare, Pope and Austen to Flann O’Brien … The Lammisters is very clever indeed.” – The Guardian

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Lost Classic # 74: Bogmail, Patrick McGinley

Variously reviewed as an "an unclaimed jewel of a book" and a "truly funny, witty and stunningly well-told story of murder in a small Irish village near Donegal," Patrick McGinley's Bogmail (1978) is a dark, twisted and blackly hilarious tale of rural shenanigans in the deepest, darkest Northwest(est). But don't take our word for it: Bogmail got the five-star treatment from Time Magazine, the New York Times, and sundry peers who nominated it for Best Novel at the 1981 Edgars. Which is nice. Are we hereby, forthwith and post-haste demanding its immediate republication? Bet your sweetchips, baby ...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: I just finished this book which sadly sat in my bookcase and was moved several times. Wow, what a surprise ending!

I figured any book that made it that long in the bookcase and was from Ireland deserved reading by a "Kelly"

Kelly; December 1, 2007 at 2:34 AM